Analyzing United Parcel Service (UPS) & Its Rivals

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) is one of 60 public companies in the “Air Freight & Logistics” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare United Parcel Service to similar companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, valuation, profitability and risk.

Risk and Volatility

United Parcel Service has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Parcel Service’s competitors have a beta of 0.70, suggesting that their average stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

United Parcel Service pays an annual dividend of $6.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.9%. United Parcel Service pays out 126.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Air Freight & Logistics” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.5% and pay out 41.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. United Parcel Service has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

60.3% of United Parcel Service shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.5% of shares of all “Air Freight & Logistics” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of United Parcel Service shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.9% of shares of all “Air Freight & Logistics” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for United Parcel Service and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Parcel Service	2	11	11	1	2.44
United Parcel Service Competitors	664	2034	2605	108	2.40

United Parcel Service presently has a consensus price target of $118.45, suggesting a potential upside of 7.33%. As a group, “Air Freight & Logistics” companies have a potential upside of 16.10%. Given United Parcel Service’s competitors higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe United Parcel Service has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares United Parcel Service and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Parcel Service	$88.66 billion	$5.57 billion	21.22
United Parcel Service Competitors	$9.82 billion	$485.71 million	9.70

United Parcel Service has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. United Parcel Service is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares United Parcel Service and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Parcel Service	4.84%	37.78%	8.13%
United Parcel Service Competitors	-1,704.43%	-18.15%	-10.79%

Summary

United Parcel Service beats its competitors on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

United Parcel Service Company Profile

United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is a global package delivery and logistics company. Its services include domestic and international shipping, air and ground delivery, freight forwarding, customs brokerage, and supply chain management. UPS also provides solutions for businesses, including warehousing, inventory management, healthcare logistics, and returns processing. Its network serves customers in more than 200 countries and territories. Founded in Seattle in 1907 as the American Messenger Company, UPS is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.